Work Text:
Amidst the blowing storm outside, the scenario inside the cabin had finally settled down.
After a fiery outburst from the resident blond cook (about how the idiot marimo was forcibly hugging his Nami-swan, to which Zoro only responded with a death glare and Nami sighing an ‘It’s ok Sanji-kun, we’re together), it was then followed by a lot of fat of tears, wailing realizations and sugar cookies almost wasted (much to Luffy’s distress)... Sanji relented but not before aiming a murderous glare at the swordsman to which Zoro reciprocated with his own—a wordless threat hanging between their stares.
Only the warmth of Nami’s hand on his chest prevented him from standing up and unsheathing his swords so he could slash the stupid cook to bits and pieces.
The others took it in a stride. Like it was something most of them had been expecting to happen sooner or later. Usopp was all smiles, wiggling his eyebrows teasingly at the two, as Nami rolled her eyes at him. Chopper had stars in them as he looked over his two friends. Luffy was laughing and clapping his feet, like the idea of them together amuses him thoroughly. The older crewmembers gave them polite smiles like they were in the know, longer than even Zoro and Nami.
Now Sanji was almost hanging near Robin’s chair, slump on its arm as the archaeologist patted his head; like that gesture would make everything alright in the world. A few minutes more he was engrossed in the story that Robin was reading out loud. Eyes wide and attentive and now squeezed between Usopp and Luffy.
Zoro sighed. That could have been more loud and dramatic. It was a miracle the chef didn’t spend the rest of the night curled up in some corner, bawling his eyes out.
Beside him, Nami sidled closer. Her head now resting on his chest, eyes looking a little drowsy as she listened to Robin. His hand on her waist gave it a reassuring squeeze and she looked up at him questioningly.
“You listening?” Zoro asked in confirmation.
“Hmmm...” Nami murmured. “Kinda. It’s a pretty interesting story.”
“Not scary?”
She puffed her cheeks. “It is. But I don’t mind, you’re here.” She smiled confidently, patting his chest lightly.
Zoro would’ve chuckled at that. Instead he gave her waist another squeeze, feeling her sweater bunch under his hand, her own slid to wrap around his torso, fingernails snagging the woollen threads of his top.
It was warm even if they were both situated a bit far from the fireplace. Maybe it was because they were all bundled up—thick sweaters and thick blankets. Or maybe it was because they were now locked in an embrace, bodies pressed against each other underneath the privacy of the blankets Jinbei had so graciously offered to them earlier.
He pulled her closer to him. And a contented sigh escaped Nami.
“You’re warm Zoro,” she murmured. “I can feel it even through your sweater...”
“Yeah?”
She grinned. “Yeah.”
Boldly, she snuck her hand inside his clothes. Swiftly done if he may say so. He would never doubt the epithet in her wanted poster ever.
His body jerked slightly when her palm met his skin.
“Why’s your hand still cold?”
“Dunno,” she answered almost breezily. “Warm it up?” She requested with a cheeky grin.
“Tsk.”
But he did what she asked, grasping her hand under his shirt with his own, rubbing her fingers through the fabric of his clothing.
Nami hummed softly as he continued his ministration, the coldness of her hand went away slowly, her palm now a comforting touch against the bare skin of his abdomen.
Zoro continued on, even as her fingers started playing against his, the fabric of his sweater still a barrier preventing skin from touching skin.
Underneath the blankets draped over them like a woollen accomplice, they both gave and took warmth from each other.
Robin’s voice carried over the room as she continued to read story after story, a soothing tone amidst the soft crackling of the fire. Once in a while it was disrupted by a gasp, a squeak or a squeal from her audience. It was rare for the crew to stay put in one area, lest remain quiet in it.
But tonight, as the snowstorm continued to rage on outside, it was one for the books.
Nami shuddered against him as Robin narrated story about an apparition tapping the window-pane asking to be let in and how close one of the characters were to open the door for her.
Instinctively he drew her close, his hand griping hers firmly, just as Sanji looked back at them and shot him with a glare.
Zoro purposely ignored him. They have a lot of time to deal with his tantrums anyway. The cook can just suck it up because nothing will change.
Nami was mumbling something against his sweater. Something about how the story Robin was reading was the most frightening one of all she had read so far.
“You can just nap,” he suggested lowly, lips brushing against her orange hair. “You don’t need to listen.”
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?”
This time he chuckled. “Yeah. Been planning to do it since she started reading.”
The navigator yawned. “Point taken.”
She pressed closer, almost as if she was settling down her own bed. The green-haired man didn’t know if he should take that as a compliment or an insult.
Nami let out a quiet breath and in an instant the sound felt soothing, almost like it was pulling him in its spell.
The hand still on her waist moved deliberately, slipping under her clothes to settle on the bare skin under it.
“Mmm, your hand is warm Zoro,” Nami said in a hushed tone.
“So are you,” he said lowly letting his fingers skim the surface of her abdomen.
Her breath hitched and her brown eyes flickered with heat, hotter than the fire in front of them, as she gazed back at him.
He smirked.
Nami rolled her eyes at him and just let him trace patterns on her skin, reinforcing her mind to think of his touch as soothing gestures instead of an igniting one. He wasn’t actually planning to do anything debauch while their friends are just a few steps away (and while the cook was sneaking glances on them) right?
As the night goes on, as Robin’s voice carried on, as the blizzard continued to rage outside... Zoro’s hand and caresses slowly lulled her to sleep.
And then he went higher, fingers barely grazing the underside of her breast.
That jolted every fiber of Nami’s being awake. She glanced up at him, eyes sharp and scowling. Zoro’s expression stayed calm, his good eye fixed on their nakama like he didn’t just do something underneath the blankets covering them and underneath her clothes.
But she can tell from the tell-tale twitch at the corner of his lips that he was fighting the urge to smile cockily at her.
Her glare made him bolder instead of deterring him. His hand was now on her breast cupping it and gently squeezing.
“You...” Nami was about to snarl at him. But her snarl almost came out as a moan when he flicked her nipple lightly before his fingers started playing with it.
She bit her lip as she continued to glare at him. Zoro barely glanced at her, his smile sly.
“Ssshh.” He shushed her almost inaudibly as his attention shifted back to Robin and the others like he wasn’t doing anything wicked to her underneath the thick covers.
Nami had no choice but to relent. She closed her eyes and continued biting her lower lip to prevent a moan from slipping out as the swordsman continued to tease her.
If she drew blood, she’s gonna make his dumb ass pay.
As if Zoro read her thoughts, he smirked at her before pinching her nipple lightly.
Luffy’s snore suddenly reverberated throughout the room. Their captain was sprawled down the floor, without a care in the world. Next to him, Usopp, Sanji and Chopper had all drifted asleep, breathing evenly and looking all serene. Franky was also sleeping a few paces away from them, just near the fireplace. Brook and Jinbei had already left the room some time ago to rest between the eighth or ninth story.
Robin chuckled as she closed her book. Her narration has come to an end as her listeners were now all asleep. Hands appeared all around the boys, draping them with woollen blankets so they would not freeze in their slumber.
Then she stood up, her blue eyes shifting towards where Zoro and Nami was.
“Oyasumi,” she murmured softly, smiling. She didn’t wait for an answer before heading towards the room she and Nami were supposed to share. Robin understood that she will be sleeping alone, because from the way those two were still bundled up together, it looks like they’re not planning to move at all.
She didn’t mind it of course.
Now the only sound remaining is of the fire hissing and logs popping and the ongoing snowstorm outside.
The flame had already dimmed slightly yet Nami’s eyes were a different kind of fire, blazing as she fixed it on the green-haired man.
“You!”
“What?” Zoro asked lowly, his tone almost like a growl. He squeezed her again, reminding her that his hand where still on her breast like he had claimed it as his own.
“I can’t believe you,” she groaned as she tried to smack his hand away.
He reiterated by pinching her nipple again before letting his thumb brush against it back and forth.
Nami almost choked on a moan.
“We’re carefully wrapped and covered,” Zoro grinned smugly. “And they are all asleep.”
He leaned closer, letting his lips touch her ear, sending goose bumps running up and down Nami’s arms as whispered.
“The perks of you bundling us up with these blankets.”
– The End –